Caught in the Middle of It
by chocolate-colombo
Summary: Mike had no time to react before he saw a glint of silver and felt a sharp pain in his chest.


**Dedicated to all the Mike whump junkies out there!  
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**Enjoy!  
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><p>Mike sat at his desk as he played with his pencil. Harvey had a new client they had to meet. Harvey, being the busy man that he is, entrusted the task of meeting this client to Mike, but only because Jessica had a matter that demanded Harvey's attention.<p>

Now, Mike was just waiting for Harvey's say-so.

Mike couldn't lie. He was nervous. Every time Harvey allowed Mike to do something by himself, Harvey would give some long condescending speech about how he was a reflection of Harvey. In other words, if Mike looked bad, Harvey looked worse.

"Mike," Harvey called. Mike looked up from his desk to see Harvey motioning to follow him. He made his way into Harvey's office and sat on his couch.

"Remember the meeting you have today?" Harvey asked. Mike nodded. "Remember what I said?"

"Yes!" Mike answered with a little sign of frustration.

"Good," Harvey said as he handed a few files from his desk to Mike. "Jessica's meeting will run shorter than she had planned. So, I'll still have time to catch up with you."

"Why bother coming?" Mike asked.

Harvey smirked. "To make sure that any mistake you make can be fixed before the meeting's over." Mike rolled his eyes. Harvey started making his way out of the office. "The meeting you have starts in forty five minutes. Don't be late." And with that, Harvey headed to Jessica's office.

As Mike was leaving, Donna stopped him. "I see trust is not an issue in your relationship with Harvey," she said sarcastically.

Mike scoffed. "I don't get what's up with him," he said while shaking his head. Mike checked his watch. "Look I better start heading out." He waved to Donna and exited Pearson/Hardman.

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><p>Mike was taken to a mansion. It had to be a mansion. Something this big could NOT be called a <em>house<em>. Calling it a _house_ would only insult the owners. Mike paid the cab driver and slowly made his way to the front door with his mouth wide open in amazement.

He stood in front of the door, prepping himself as to what to expect. He heard something inside the house. It was a heavy thud, but Mike just assumed someone had dropped something. And if someone dropped something, it means someone's home.

Mike rang the doorbell. All noises stopped. "H-hello," he called out, a weird feeling forming in his stomach.

A startled voice answered. "Oh yes. The door's unlocked. Come in."

Mike raised an eyebrow. The voice sounded like they'd been caught by surprise._ Didn't they expect me to come?_ He slowly turned the door knob. The door led him to the living room. That's when all the alarms in his head went off.

The living room was a mess. Lamps broken. Couch overturned. The only thing that looked untouched was the lone aquarium close to the stairs.

Mike pulled out his phone. Wanting to do nothing but get out as fast as he could, he turned around to leave. That's when he ran into a large body that almost threw him off balance.

"The Nicholsons are a bit busy right now," the weird man said. Mike had no time to react before he saw a glint of silver and felt a sharp pain in his chest.

The man pulled the knife out, shaking his head as Mike put a hand to his chest. "Sorry, kid."

The man walked out. Mike's knees gave out on him as he fell to the ground. Mike felt consciousness slip away from him. Soon, he welcomed the blackness and felt no pain as his eyes slipped closed.

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><p>Harvey took a cab to the Nicholsons' mansion. He called Mike who, as he suspected, didn't pick up his phone. He figured one of two things: Mike once again, left his phone somewhere. Or, Mike messed up, and was saving the lecture he was going to get til later. Harvey tried debating which one was the most probable. Knowing Mike, he thought those two possibilities had a 5050 chance of happening.

Once the cab pulled up to the "house", Harvey paid the driver and made his way to the front door. While he was walking, he noticed that a Mercedes was missing on the driveway, but he shrugged it off, thinking it was parked in the garage.

When he got to the front door, he noticed it was opened, but with just a crack. Still, Harvey knew the Nicholsons'. They weren't careless when it came to things like this. He knocked on the door and got no response. He pushed the door slightly.

Harvey heard ragged breathing as the door opened wider. That's when he saw Mike, laying in the living room floor, a pool of blood forming near him.

He ran over to Mike's limp form. "Mike!" he yelled, hoping the kid would wake up. Harvey would've thought he was dead if he hadn't checked for a pulse. He sighed in relief when he felt the weak pulse. He pulled out his phone and dialed 911, then rattled the address and Mike's condition to the operator.

Harvey took off his jacket and pressed it on Mike's stab wound. He heard a moan of pain. "Mike. Mike can you hear me? What happened?" Harvey heard Mike's struggle to breathe and concluded that Mike's lung was collapsing.

"H-Harv-" Mike tried to say his name, but instead ended up coughing. "Hurts."

Harvey saw Mike's teeth stained with blood. "I-I know," Harvey said, trying to hide the panic in his voice. "But help is on the way, okay? Just don't talk right now." Mike's eyes started drooping closed, but Harvey lightly tapped Mike's face.

"Tired," Mike whispered. Mike began coughing again. Each cough sending a wave of pain through his body, and more blood coming out of his mouth.

Harvey flinched as Mike continued coughing, only because he couldn't imagine how much pain he was in.

There was silence in the room as Mike stopped coughing, and his eyes closed. That scared Harvey. But what scared Harvey the most was the nonexistent rise and fall of Mike's chest.

"Mike. Mike!" Harvey once again thought Mike was dead.

Harvey once again checked for a pulse. Mike isn't dead. He couldn't be dead. He felt the slow beat on Mike's neck. Harvey tilted Mike's head and started breathing into him. He saw the forced rise and fall of Mike's chest.

Harvey silently thanked God when he heard sirens coming from outside. "It's gonna be okay, Mike."

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><p>The trip to the hospital was a blur, Harvey couldn't deny that. But once he got there, he called Donna. Like the loyal secretary she is, she showed up at the hospital a few minutes later.<p>

"Harvey, what happened?" she asked, her voice laced with concern.

"I found him like that. He wasn't conscious when I found him, I'm surprised he's still alive."

Donna started rubbing circles on Harvey's back. She couldn't help but notice as Harvey leaned into her touch. She looked down at Harvey's hands. "Your hands."

Harvey was confused at first, then he looked down. His hands were literally covered in Mike's blood. It stained his hands, sleeves, and stuck underneath his fingernails. That's when he noticed the smell. The horrid smell of drying blood that was wreaking from his body.

"Donna," he said as he stood up. "Will you excuse me?"

Donna nodded and watched as Harvey made his way into the bathroom.

Harvey put his hands under the running water from the sink. The water was hot, but it got most of the blood off.

He turned the water off and tried to compose himself before he went back out to the waiting room. Once he was sure that he was not at risk of having a breakdown, he made his way back into the waiting room.

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><p>A while later, a doctor approached them. "Are you here for Michael Ross?" Harvey and Donna shot up from their seats. "I'm Dr. Lambert."<p>

"How's Mike?" Harvey asked, not really in the mood for introductions.

"He's been moved to the ICU. Michael was stabbed in his left lung, which collapsed." Dr. Lambert paused when Donna gasped. "But luckily, we've repaired the damage. He may be in respiratory therapy for a while..."

"But he'll be fine?" Donna asked anxiously.

Dr. Lambert nodded and smiled. "He'll be fine."

Donna and Harvey released a breath they had no clue they were holding.

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><p>Mike groggily opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed were the beeping sounds. The next thing he noticed were the white walls and the smell of medicine and antiseptic.<p>

Oh, he's in a hospital.

He looked around and saw Donna and Harvey asleep on the chairs next to him. Donna's head resting on Harvey's right shoulder. That's when Mike realized...he was laying down.

Oh...Harvey and Donna are in the hospital for him.

Now the million dollar question was: What happened?

Mike tried to move himself into a more comfortable position, but gasped from the pain that came from the left side of his chest. He must have been louder than he thought, because right after, both Harvey and Donna slowly opened their eyes. Donna yawned before realization hit the both of them. "Mike!"

"What happened?" Mike asked. His voice was raspy.

"You don't remember?" Harvey asked.

Mike had to think. Hard. The pain meds were messing with his mind. "I remember visiting a client for you. They had a nice mansion." Harvey rolled his eyes at this, but Mike continued. "I heard noises coming from inside, so I knocked. I was told to come in and then..." Mike trailed off. "Whoa."

"That neighborhood had a string of robberies this past two weeks," Donna cut in. "You happened to get caught up in it. The man in the Nicholsons' house stole their car after he stabbed you." Donna looked down.

"What happened to the Nicholsons'?" Mike asked, already fearing what the answer was.

Donna hesitated before continuing. "They were found in their bedroom. Their throats were slashed. Th-They didn't suffer."

Mike's mouth made an 'O'. "So I guess I'm the lucky one, huh?"

Harvey once again rolled his eyes. "Next time, you're not meeting a client by yourself."

Mike made a small smile. "At least it wasn't my fault the meeting went wrong this time." Mike's words words came out slower as he fought to stay awake.

"Go to sleep, kid," Harvey said while trying to hide a smile. "We'll be here when you wake up."

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><p><strong>My first one-shot! <strong>

**How'd you like it?**


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